- Who may ride a school
bus?
- Can I get transportation
to another school outside my school's boundary?
- What do the abbreviations
and dates mean next to the description of the bus stop?
- The bus passes my house,
why can't you stop and pick up my child?
- Who provides transportation?
- How do I request a bus
stop?
- What if my stop request
is denied?
- How is a student assigned
to a bus stop or receives service?
- May a student use a
bus route or stop other than the one assigned to them?
- May a student not eligible
for busing ride home with a friend?
- Will the bus routes
and schedules stay the same?
- How will I be notified
if my route time or stop has changed?
- Where is my bus? It's
late!
- My child left his homework,
or his jacket, on the bus. How do I get it back?
- Can my child bring his
large band instrument onto the bus?
- Where will the student
be dropped off?
- What is expected of
students at bus stops and on the school bus?
- Who do I call if I have
questions?
- How are the drivers
trained? Do you run background checks?
- Why aren't there seat belts on the school bus?
- When MUST motorists STOP for the school bus?
- Are kindergarten students
dropped off at stops when a parent/guardian is not present?
- If my child misbehaves
on a bus, what happens?
- What if we have bad
weather?
- How do I go about riding
an After School Activity Bus?
Who may ride a school bus?
Eligibility for transportation to/from school for K-12 is based on student’s
residence or daycare address. The student must live more than one radius mile
from his/her primary school of attendance (PSA) in order to receive transportation.
A student may be transported less than one mile if the district determines that
the walking route contains hazardous conditions. Approximate walking distance
to the student’s assigned stop: 8-10 blocks for high school, 6-8 blocks
for middle school and 4-6 blocks for elementary.
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Can I get transportation
to another school outside my school’s boundary?
Bus stops may be established outside
a school’s Primary School of Attendance
(PSA) for a specific student due to the child’s program requirements
not available at their home school (i.e. Special Education, Highly Capable,
ESL).
If a date appears next to the bus stop in the description, this date will indicate
the month and year the stop is scheduled to be eliminated. If the program is
discontinued or the student moves, the stop will be eliminated sooner than the
date indicated next to the stop location.
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What do the abbreviations
and dates mean next to the description of the bus stop?
DISP
- Displaced
ESL - English as Second Language
EXC - Exceptional
HAZ - Hazard
IMM - Immersion Program
M - Magnet |
Med
- Medical
NCLB - No Child Left Behind
NEC - Northeast Corner
NWC - Northwest Corner
O - Optional Enrollment
Opt - Optional enrollment |
Sail
- Sail Program
SEC - Southeast Corner
SPED - Special Needs
STA - Student Transfer Authorization
SWC - Southwest Corner
T - Tone or Transitional |
Bus stops may be established outside
a school’s Primary School of Attendance (PSA) for a specific student
due to the child’s program requirements not available at their home
school (i.e. Special Education, Highly Capable, ESL).
The dates represent the month and
year the stop is scheduled to be eliminated. If the program is discontinued
or the student moves, the stop will be eliminated sooner than the date indicated
next to the stop location.
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The bus passes my house, why can't you stop and pick up my child?
School buses pass most students’ homes
on their way to school. A bus can only stop at a few stops and make it to
school on time.
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Who provides transportation?
The district contracts with Durham Services for basic and some special education bus routes.
Tacoma School district buses provide the majority of the bus routes for special needs students.
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How do I request a bus stop?
Talk to your school bus coordinator.
They will submit your request to the transportation office on a Bus/Run/Stop
Change Request. The school will be contacted by transportation to let them
know if the stop was denied or approved. Bus stops are not added outside
a school’s boundary.
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What if my stop request is denied?
You may appeal the decision. Request a Bus
Stop Appeal’s form
at your school. An appeal committee meets once a month to review your request.
You will be notified when the committee meets and encouraged to attend to explain
your request.
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How is a student assigned to a bus stop or receives service?
To start service or change
service, the parent/guardian needs to ask the school bus coordinator to prepare
a Bus/Run/Stop Change Request to forward to the district Transportation
Department. To use an existing stop, the parent/bus coordinator must complete
the Student Assignment to Existing Bus Stop form and give to the bus driver
on the first ride. All students must be assigned to a bus stop and their
name indicated on the bus driver’s passenger list.
All incoming 1st, 6th and 9th graders
are assigned by the computer to the closest stop to their home. If the student
requests to use a different stop, the parent must authorize this by completing
the Student Assignment to Existing Bus
Stop form.
A student may not depart the bus other than at his or her assigned bus stop.
Upon request by the bus driver, students are required to show student identification.
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May a student use a bus route or stop other than the one assigned
to them?
Yes, however, the student must
provide a completed Student Bus Assignment
Form and must have authorization from parent/guardian and school principal
or designee.
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May a student not eligible for busing ride home with a friend?
Yes. The student must have a note from a parent/guardian and signed by the
Principal or designee. The student can only ride if there is room on the bus.
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Will the bus routes and schedules stay the same?
Basic education bus routes will
be similar year after year. Revisions are made based on student’s residence
location. New bus stops are added and deleted through out the year so some
routes have revisions.
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How will I be notified if my route time or stop has changed?
The transportation office will notify your school announcing a route change.
School staff will alert the riders at the school. If there is a major change
on the route, the bus driver will also inform the students. Route changes take
effect every Monday and Thursday.
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Where is my bus? It's late!
We make every attempt to leave the bus garage at the same time each
day. Two of our major goals are ----- to be safe and to be on time. Inclement
weather, snowy, icy or wet roads or construction can all create heavy traffic
conditions. All of these conditions affect the speed of the bus.
There are times in the afternoon when school staff will ask us to wait for a
child who has gone back to the school to get a book or homework. There may be
a behavior management situation on the bus that requires the driver to speak
with the students or staff before leaving the school. These conditions can cause
the bus to be a few minutes off schedule.
Our fleet is inspected annually by the Washington State Patrol. This is the law!
Any bus that does not pass inspection cannot transport students. However, there
are occasions when the bus will have a mechanical problem. This, too, can cause
the driver to be late in picking up students. Contact 253 475 0334 Durham Services
or 253 571 1855 Tacoma School District.
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My child left his homework, or his jacket, on the bus. How do I
get it back?
The driver checks his/her bus at the end of the day. Any items left on the
bus that the driver finds are usually brought to the dispatch office. We then
return them to the driver on the following morning so the owner can claim these
valuables.
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Can my child bring
his large band instrument onto the bus?
Many of our buses are at or near capacity and we discourage this
but will allow this as long as they are secured in place. Our bus runs are
scheduled to transport students. Many large instruments require a full seat
or at least a seat for the student and the instrument. Many of our buses
do not have this available space. Smaller instruments that can be held by
the child in his/her lap may be carried.
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Where will the student be dropped off?
All K-12 students will be
dropped off at the student’s assigned bus stop. A parent/guardian does
not need to be at the stop in order for a student to be dropped off except
for noon kindergartners. Parents should make sure their child understands where
their bus stop is and the appropriate walk path to their home/daycare. Drivers
are not allowed to pick up students or drop them off other than designated
bus stops.
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What is expected of
students at bus stops and on the school bus?
Students need to be at bus stops no earlier than 10 minutes nor later than 5
minutes before the scheduled pick-up time. When students see the bus coming they
need to form a line starting well back from the curb and be ready to board. Buses
do not wait for any students and buses will not return for late students.
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Who do I call
if I have questions?
Bus Coordinator at School
Durham Services ------------------------------------------------------------------253.475.0334
Tacoma School District Transportation--------------------------------------253.571.1853
Special Education Transportation---------------------------------------------253.571.1855
School District Night line---------------------------------------------------------253.571.1000
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How are the drivers trained? Do you run background checks?
Each driver must have a commercial
driver’s license (CDL) with the
appropriate endorsements before they can drive a school bus. A state-trained
trainer trains drivers for one to two weeks. There is classroom work and behind
the wheel driving for these "student" school bus drivers. On the
average there is forty (40) hours of training with our trainer. Each new driver
candidate must submit to a background check, pre-employment drug test. Each
year drivers must submit to periodic random drug and alcohol testing. Driver
licenses are checked annually. Every year thereafter all drivers must attend
about six hours of continuing education classes. In addition, every school
bus driver must have an up to date physical card and First Aid Certificate.
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Why aren't there seat belts on the school bus?
There is a passive restraint system
on the school buses. Since 1977 the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
have been very stringent concerning school buses. The seat backs are higher;
there is more padding around the metal seat frame; the padding is thicker;
the seats are closer together; the steel ribs are of heavier gauge metal;
and more. The students are like eggs in an egg carton. If there is a front
or rear end collision, the full upper body of the student would move in to
the back of the seat in front of them and then "bounce" back
in their own seat. Any injuries to the student would not be as severe as if
the child was wearing a seat belt.
With a seat belt, the child is strapped in at the pelvic area. Upon impact the
child's upper body would move in to the back of the seat in front of him; but
the lower body would stay in position. The child's head and neck would hit the
seat first and then bounce back in to his own seat. That would cause major head
and neck injuries... or worse.
As long as your child is sitting properly in the bus seat, "bottom to bottom
and back to back", your child is safe on a school bus.
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When MUST motorists STOP for the school bus?
In preparation for a school bus
stop, the bus driver will activate YELLOW FLASHING LIGHTS approximately 200
feet prior to the stop. This is the indicator to other motorists to slow
down and proceed with caution because there is a school bus stop ahead. When
the bus comes to a complete stop at the bus stop, and opens the door, the
RED FLASHING LIGHTS are activated.
When you see RED FLASHING lights, and the extended "STOP" arm on
a school bus, you MUST stop! This is the signal that the bus has stopped to
pick up or to drop off students. Motorists must wait until the red flashing
lights are turned off before they can resume driving.
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Are kindergarten students dropped off at stops when a parent/guardian is
not present?
There are very few noon stops any more since the district has gone to all day kindergarten. Tacoma school district bus drivers are instructed
not to leave a kindergarten student alone without a person acknowledging
their presence. In the event that someone is not at the bus stop to receive
a child, the bus driver will contact the dispatch office and report the situation.
A reasonable effort will be made to contact a parent/guardian. If contact
cannot be made, dispatch will notify the child’s school. The
child will be returned to the school at the end of the bus run or the child’s
assigned bus stop if contact had been made with the parent/guardian.
A parent/guardian must provide written authorization that a parent/guardian
or other will not be at the noon stop and the student may walk home or to daycare
without supervision.
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If my child misbehaves
on a bus, what happens?
All students are to follow the bus rules as outlined in the yellow Parent/Guardian
Guide to Basic Education Student School Bus Service Guide. Those who
choose not to follow the rules may be suspended or lose their bus riding
privilege. You can get a copy of the guide by contacting the
transportation office at 253.571.1853 or Durham Services at 253.475.0334.
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What if we have bad weather?
Make sure you listen to the radio or television for school closures on delayed
schedules. If the district runs on emergency routes, please make sure you check for the bus stop nearest your residence. All emergency stops are noted on this Web site.
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How do I go about riding an After School Activity Bus?
Activity buses operate several
days a week. Check with your school. The buses stop at district school sites
that are within your child’s school’s
boundary zone. Students must show identification when riding an after school
bus.
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